Occult Adventures or Horror Adventures?


Strange Aeons


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I am planning to renew my AP subscription for Strange Aeons and I wanted to get some feedback from the community.

Is this AP meant to utilize Occult Adventures (psychic magic, etc) or Horror Adventures, or both?
I read the synopsis of Horror Adventures and it mentions new archetypes, but not new classes. It also seems to be more traditional horror and not geared so much toward Mythos horror (with the exception of sanity rules, which I assume will be reprinted in the Strange Aeons AP).

I understand that there is limited official information out there at this time, but I am looking for opinions.

Thank you, and remember - do not call up, that which you can not put down.


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My guess is both. The cover of the first book has the iconic medium on the cover.


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The Medium, The Spiritualist (Fractured Mind especially), Occultist, and Psychic all can have themes that align with Mythos fairly easily to me. So I'd occult adventures has stuff to offer. Horror Adventures is for generic horror, chances are at least some of the material would be relevant for Strange Aeons. It's hard to say for sure since we don't have much info on SA or HA.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Neither book will be required to play Strange Aeons. Horror Adventures will probably be utilized more, but the nature of that book isn't NEARLY as important as, say, Mythic was for Wrath or Ultimate Combat was for Jade Regent.

Lantern Lodge RPG Superstar 2014 Top 4

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Both is good.


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Will there perhaps be some content from Ult Intrigue in this as well as the Horror elements or might it just be more optional for UI?

Thanks

Tom


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I would think that it would be a both and.


TRDG wrote:

Will there perhaps be some content from Ult Intrigue in this as well as the Horror elements or might it just be more optional for UI?

Thanks

Tom

I suppose that would all depend if you have to do some sort of social situation during the game.

Paizo Employee Developer

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TRDG wrote:

Will there perhaps be some content from Ult Intrigue in this as well as the Horror elements or might it just be more optional for UI?

Thanks

Tom

The research rules from Ultimate Intrigue show up in a few of the adventures, but I made sure to provide enough information in the text for a GM to run those encounters without needing to reference Ultimate Intrigue.


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Adam Daigle wrote:
TRDG wrote:

Will there perhaps be some content from Ult Intrigue in this as well as the Horror elements or might it just be more optional for UI?

Thanks

Tom

The research rules from Ultimate Intrigue show up in a few of the adventures, but I made sure to provide enough information in the text for a GM to run those encounters without needing to reference Ultimate Intrigue.

*Said in the voice of Uncle from Jackie Chan Adventures* We must do research!


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jedi8187 wrote:
Adam Daigle wrote:
TRDG wrote:

Will there perhaps be some content from Ult Intrigue in this as well as the Horror elements or might it just be more optional for UI?

Thanks

Tom

The research rules from Ultimate Intrigue show up in a few of the adventures, but I made sure to provide enough information in the text for a GM to run those encounters without needing to reference Ultimate Intrigue.
*Said in the voice of Uncle from Jackie Chan Adventures* We must do research!

I loved that show, and now want to play that as a character concept.


NerdOfTheYear wrote:
jedi8187 wrote:
Adam Daigle wrote:
TRDG wrote:

Will there perhaps be some content from Ult Intrigue in this as well as the Horror elements or might it just be more optional for UI?

Thanks

Tom

The research rules from Ultimate Intrigue show up in a few of the adventures, but I made sure to provide enough information in the text for a GM to run those encounters without needing to reference Ultimate Intrigue.
*Said in the voice of Uncle from Jackie Chan Adventures* We must do research!
I loved that show, and now want to play that as a character concept.

One more t'ing!

Acquisitives

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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Adam Daigle wrote:
TRDG wrote:

Will there perhaps be some content from Ult Intrigue in this as well as the Horror elements or might it just be more optional for UI?

Thanks

Tom

The research rules from Ultimate Intrigue show up in a few of the adventures, but I made sure to provide enough information in the text for a GM to run those encounters without needing to reference Ultimate Intrigue.

YAY! Research Rules!!!

One of my favorite bits from Mummy's Mask was the perilous library delve. Very fun.


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jedi8187 wrote:
Adam Daigle wrote:
TRDG wrote:

Will there perhaps be some content from Ult Intrigue in this as well as the Horror elements or might it just be more optional for UI?

Thanks

Tom

The research rules from Ultimate Intrigue show up in a few of the adventures, but I made sure to provide enough information in the text for a GM to run those encounters without needing to reference Ultimate Intrigue.
*Said in the voice of Uncle from Jackie Chan Adventures* We must do research!

Thanks Adam, so not much of the social combat aspect in this AP, I'll just add in some of that into my Hell's Rebels game I am GMing.

Research is also fine as well and looking forward to seeing what is going on when it comes out!!

Tom

The Exchange

James Jacobs wrote:
Neither book will be required to play Strange Aeons. Horror Adventures will probably be utilized more, but the nature of that book isn't NEARLY as important as, say, Mythic was for Wrath or Ultimate Combat was for Jade Regent.

James, I would think that the Occult Adventures would be way helpful for this one. The Occultist, the Spiritualist, the Medium and Psychic would be well suited for a Call of Cthulhu type AP.


Personally, if an AP required Occult Adventures to run? I will cancel my subscription for that run, and renew it after that AP is finished. I did not like OA and will not be letting my players use that book in my campaigns.

APs should not require extensive knowledge of a non-core ruleset to work. And a horror game or a Lovecraftian game could easily be run with traditional Pathfinder classes and never need the Occult classes.

You may disagree, but do note the last time they tried to require alternative rules for an AP, it was for the Worldwound campaign... which many people feel is intrinsically flawed and the Mythic rules considered unusable at high levels by quite a few people. So I very much doubt Paizo will try to go that route again.


I love Occult Adventures. Medium is such a fun class!

So yeah, I actually couldn't disagree with you more there. :-)


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You are welcome to love it. And you can use the book in your own games.

I just feel that requiring a book in order to run an AP is not a good idea. (Outside of the Core Rulebook of course.)

Paizo Employee Developer

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Tangent101 wrote:

You are welcome to love it. And you can use the book in your own games.

I just feel that requiring a book in order to run an AP is not a good idea. (Outside of the Core Rulebook of course.)

Only slightly related, but I was curious to ask... How do you feel about the times when we use a class, feat, spell, or archetype for NPCs that come from other hardcover sources (like Advanced Player's Guide, Ultimate Combat, and Ultimate Magic) that are freely available on the PRD? I'm just trying to get a feel of where different people draw the line.


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Adam Daigle wrote:
Tangent101 wrote:

You are welcome to love it. And you can use the book in your own games.

I just feel that requiring a book in order to run an AP is not a good idea. (Outside of the Core Rulebook of course.)

Only slightly related, but I was curious to ask... How do you feel about the times when we use a class, feat, spell, or archetype for NPCs that come from other hardcover sources (like Advanced Player's Guide, Ultimate Combat, and Ultimate Magic) that are freely available on the PRD? I'm just trying to get a feel of where different people draw the line.

Non-core classes are great! It's nice to see them in action, and sometimes it's more fair to PCs (Witches can pick up additional spells, for instance, since it's much harder for them to do otherwise). As both a GM and a player, I like to see non-core classes a lot. Feats and spells are fine too, but probably need a little extra reason to be in there (particularly on-theme for the NPC, specific to the non-core class, covering a weakness of the NPC, etc.)

Just my two cents.

Liberty's Edge

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Yeah, I'm cool with anything that's available free online.

And actually quite like it when Classes other than the corebook ones come up occasionally. It proves they exist in the world outside just PCs, and thus really adds to verisimilitude, at least for me.

As QuideEst notes, Feats and spells are fine, too, but generally only when they're necessary for some reason.


Adam Daigle wrote:
Tangent101 wrote:

You are welcome to love it. And you can use the book in your own games.

I just feel that requiring a book in order to run an AP is not a good idea. (Outside of the Core Rulebook of course.)

Only slightly related, but I was curious to ask... How do you feel about the times when we use a class, feat, spell, or archetype for NPCs that come from other hardcover sources (like Advanced Player's Guide, Ultimate Combat, and Ultimate Magic) that are freely available on the PRD? I'm just trying to get a feel of where different people draw the line.

If it's free online, I don't mind.

And for that matter, I've got all the major rulesbooks (the ones with classes and the like).

I just was not able to twist my mind around the content in that book, and didn't like the fact that psychic classes were mostly using spells for normal magic. In essence it was just reskinned magic renamed "psychic" or at least that was the general gist I gained from it. Even now I've not managed to plow through that book.

If you have one or two characters from the other sources? It doesn't bug me that much. And to be honest, I have also had problems figuring out the Alchemist, the Summoner, the Cavalier, and the Inquisitor... so such characters probably don't get used to their full effectiveness in a module or AP when I come across them.

No doubt someone could come up with a Paizo Class Guide For Dummies to help us First Edition Geezers comprehend this newfangled content. ;)

tl;dr. I don't mind the non-core content when used in small doses.

Liberty's Edge

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Tangent101 wrote:
I just was not able to twist my mind around the content in that book, and didn't like the fact that psychic classes were mostly using spells for normal magic. In essence it was just reskinned magic renamed "psychic" or at least that was the general gist I gained from it. Even now I've not managed to plow through that book.

To attempt to be helpful on this point:

Psychic Magic is a type of Magic. It's exactly like Arcane Magic and Divine Magic, except, y'know, a third type of magic.

I think that works fine in a world with magic, to be honest.


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Tammy's psychic.

Paizo Employee Developer

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Tangent101 wrote:

...

tl;dr. I don't mind the non-core content when used in small doses.

Cool. Because, so far in my development, there's at least one NPC in each volume that uses either a class, archetype, spell, or feat from Occult Adventures. The flavor fits so well that I couldn't pass it up. Also, just to be as transparent as I can at this point, there is one adventure that deals heavily with dreams that uses material from Occult Adventures related to the Dreamlands/Dimension of Dreams.

That said, there's still plenty of rogues, wizards, fighters, clerics, sorcerers, and whatnot. :) Regardless, I hope you check out Strange Aeons. It should be a fun, weird, and scary ride.


I can understand that.

In all likelihood, I won't be running it for quite a few years. My Skype group (who is still in Book 5 of Runelords) will be starting Hell's Rebels afterward... and I suspect that won't be for probably two years seeing we game every three to four weeks.

And the tabletop group just started Runelords, also runs on a near-monthly schedule, and I'll probably have them do Crimson Throne afterward seeing I'll be getting the hardcover for that one. So... yeah. Really wish I did have a more frequent gaming group but that's not in the stars.


Adam Daigle wrote:
Tangent101 wrote:

You are welcome to love it. And you can use the book in your own games.

I just feel that requiring a book in order to run an AP is not a good idea. (Outside of the Core Rulebook of course.)

Only slightly related, but I was curious to ask... How do you feel about the times when we use a class, feat, spell, or archetype for NPCs that come from other hardcover sources (like Advanced Player's Guide, Ultimate Combat, and Ultimate Magic) that are freely available on the PRD? I'm just trying to get a feel of where different people draw the line.

I have the books, and I use the PRD...

PERSONAL PREFERENCE however, and it hasn't happened in the APs for awhile, is that they stick to core and don't use the extra stuff in them.

That's more a personal preference though, the majority probably like the usage of the new and shiny in each AP.

I just find that the more rules that come into play, the more you have to remember outside of the adventure itself.

Liberty's Edge

Deadmanwalking wrote:

Yeah, I'm cool with anything that's available free online.

And actually quite like it when Classes other than the corebook ones come up occasionally. It proves they exist in the world outside just PCs, and thus really adds to verisimilitude, at least for me.

As QuideEst notes, Feats and spells are fine, too, but generally only when they're necessary for some reason.

QFT! My group and I like having additional material from the main rpg line from books like Occult Adventures. The additional classes add an element of surprise to combat. The only series which got a thumbs down based on rules was Wrath of the Righteous. Mythic was not well received.

I am really looking forward to this AP. I also have a bunch of people ready for me to run it as well, lol.


and magic books like coultes des ghoules?
'learn ghoul
'become ghoul
'cha boost, so as to...
'civilized ghoul feat (noone can tell.. :p)

Or the wanderer thru the sea
*bespeak the end of the day (quirky spell/ritual. See a thing that will happen and be ...umm... destined ie kinda untouchable, sort of)
*craft magical object ... one more or less useful for finishing something
*ritual for trading your soul to the dark tapestry for strange abilities... and just maybe you get eaten.

Path of fire and sky
*summon tiny flying fire elemental (living fireball, almost)
*sacraments of becoming (become a flying fireball!)
*words of fire and sky (inspire! ..or burn... or both..)

Sczarni

GreyWolfLord wrote:
Adam Daigle wrote:
Tangent101 wrote:

You are welcome to love it. And you can use the book in your own games.

I just feel that requiring a book in order to run an AP is not a good idea. (Outside of the Core Rulebook of course.)

Only slightly related, but I was curious to ask... How do you feel about the times when we use a class, feat, spell, or archetype for NPCs that come from other hardcover sources (like Advanced Player's Guide, Ultimate Combat, and Ultimate Magic) that are freely available on the PRD? I'm just trying to get a feel of where different people draw the line.

I have the books, and I use the PRD...

PERSONAL PREFERENCE however, and it hasn't happened in the APs for awhile, is that they stick to core and don't use the extra stuff in them.

That's more a personal preference though, the majority probably like the usage of the new and shiny in each AP.

I just find that the more rules that come into play, the more you have to remember outside of the adventure itself.

My players refuse to play any scenario that uses subsystems if there are rules for them to follow they want to be able to look them up in the core rule book. As soon as I break out the kingdom making rules, or the caravan rules they loose interest. The only one I can get them to do is the chase rules... And that because it is pretty much just straight skill checks.


Curious to see how much Ultimate Intrigue is in this, and my players (and I) like an over all mix, some core and some from the other books.

Especially any new ones out, LOL

Cheers

Tom


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I would be one of those people that love seeing new things in APs. Beyond the fact that I already need to tweak every single monster there is from bestiaries due to my player's having high system mastery, it's just nice for diversity and the 'wait, what did he do?' moments from my players. They're good at not-meta'ing (mostly), but even so, they still instantly assume cleric if they see an inflict, instantly assume barbarian if they see a rage, instantly assume wizard/sorc if they see a fireball, etc.. So busting out class features that aren't those will surprise them and defeat automated tactics and such... it's nice.

On top of that, I just like continued increase of customization and versatility and choice in stuff to make, both as a player and DM.


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Adam Daigle wrote:
Tangent101 wrote:

You are welcome to love it. And you can use the book in your own games.

I just feel that requiring a book in order to run an AP is not a good idea. (Outside of the Core Rulebook of course.)

Only slightly related, but I was curious to ask... How do you feel about the times when we use a class, feat, spell, or archetype for NPCs that come from other hardcover sources (like Advanced Player's Guide, Ultimate Combat, and Ultimate Magic) that are freely available on the PRD? I'm just trying to get a feel of where different people draw the line.

I like seeing concepts from the hard covers show up in the APs because it makes me feel like I'm really getting my money's worth for those sourcebooks. It also gives me the feeling that I can embellish the module as much as I like.

I can't wait for Strange Eons. I haven't been this excited about an AP since Iron Gods. I look forward to applying Ultimate Intrigue, Horror Adventures & Occult Adventures to it.


Tangent101 wrote:

You are welcome to love it. And you can use the book in your own games.

I just feel that requiring a book in order to run an AP is not a good idea. (Outside of the Core Rulebook of course.)

Then, what do you do about AP's like:

Carrion Crown, which needs Bestiary 1, 2, and the Advanced Player's Guide (for treasure and explaining the non core rulebook classes in it)

Giantslayer, which apparently requires Bestiary 1-4, and the Monster Codex as well as the NPC Codex just to get all the stats on the beasties?

Or how about the Runelords Anniversary edition which needs Bestiary 1 and 2?

What I'm saying is, ALL of the AP's seem to require extra non core rulebooks just to run properly.


It's a good thing those are all available for free on the PRD. :-)

Not to mention Pathfinder Wikipedia and Archives of Nethys, which are also free.

Which of course, is all helped by the amazing value of being able to purchase PDFs for all those books at 9.99, or even less if you're an AP subscriber.

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